Village Gamer

Voting began yesterday, July 10^th, for kids to get celebrity teen Jordan Francis to visit their town and star in the CBC television and interactive series “Cross Country Fun Hunt.” Then, on July 12^th, Jordan and his crew embark on the ultimate road-trip, hitting every province across Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland. Canadian kids aged 16 and under have uploaded videos and photos showcasing the best of their towns.

Kids vote online to help Jordan decide where to visit and even follow his van on the virtual map in real-time via GPS tracking. The selected kids and their destinations will be featured in webisodes and then in the new CBC Television series “Cross Country Fun Hunt.” Produced by Apartment 11 Productions, “Cross Country Fun Hunt” airs this fall during CBC’s Saturday school aged programming block.

“It’s amazing to see Canadian kids participating in the Fun Hunt!,” says Jordan Francis, host, “Cross Country Fun Hunt,” “The best part is, kids everywhere will have a say on where this journey goes by voting online. I won’t know where I am going next, sometimes until the day before, when the votes are in.”

“The interactive component of this series makes the journey exciting and spontaneous,” says Jonathan Finkelstein, Executive Producer, Apartment 11 Productions. “Kids across Canada are creating a giant virtual map, and highlighting what they love about their local communities and we are thrilled to see this resource take shape.”

Kids help determine where Jordan films for the series and webisodes by voting online. Each destination with either text, a video or photo upload is a dot on the interactive “Cross Country Fun Hunt” virtual map which all can explore. This fall, Jordan’s epic “Cross Country Fun Hunt” ends with an awesome grand finale concert with Jordan and his friends in the neighbourhood or town that gets voted “the funnest place in Canada!”

Even if Jordan has already passed an area on his tour, every location submitted could potentially be part of the big finale! This means kids are encouraged to submit videos throughout the summer and keep voting, even after Jordan has visited their province. Follow the latest updates on “Cross Country Fun Hunt” on Twitter and Facebook.

Actor, singer and dancer Jordan Francis is a triple threat whose previous credits include the role of young Simba in the Broadway version of The Lion King, starring roles in “Camp Rock,” “Camp Rock 2,” and “Connor Undercover,” and performances on the “Jonas Brothers World Tour.” Jordan also composes his own music and will be contributing original songs to “Cross Country Fun Hunt”.

The series is produced with the participation of CBC Television, the Canada Media Fund, the Shaw Rocket Fund, the Bell New Media Fund, the Quebec Tax Credit Program administered by SODEC and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.